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Kokoda - Shane Bourne, William McInnes, Jack Finsterer, Alister Grierson

Threat advisory: Guarded - General risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

Mates became heroes. The track became legend.

New Guinea, 1942.

Australia is at war with Japan.

A fearsome force of elite Japanese fighters, heavily armed and battle-hardened, land on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. Their intention: an attack on Port Moresby and ultimately, an invasion of Australia.

A small platoon of Australian soldiers from the 39th Battalion, ill-equipped and poorly trained, set forward outside Isurava to face the enemy line.

After sustained attack from the Japanese, the Australians are cut off from their supply lines. Isolated in the jungle, they make their way back through the most perilous terrain on earth... the Kokoda track.

After three days with no food or sleep, carrying their wounded, and suffering the effects of dysentery and malaria, the men emerge from the jungle - their bodies consumed with exhaustion. But on learning that Isurava is about to fall they pick themselves up and rejoin the battle...

Outnumbered 10 to 1.

Somehow, they find a way to beat the odds and defend our nation.

But not without paying an enormous price.

Kokoda.

Mates became heroes. The Track became legend.

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film World War II Australia Kokoda track trail Japan shoot violence invasion fuzzy battle mate Papua New Guinea PNG

Persons of interest

Shane Bourne .... The Doctor
Jack Finsterer .... Jack Scholt
Angus Sampson .... Dan
Simon Stone .... Max Scholt
Luke Ford .... Burke
Travis McMahon .... Darko Moey
Tom Budge .... Johnno
Christopher Baker .... Bluey
Steve Le Marquand .... Uncle Sam
William McInnes .... The Colonel
Ewen Leslie .... Wilstead
Ben Barrack .... Pike
Josh Meggs .... Injured Soldier
John Lonie .... Screenwriter
Alister Grierson .... Screenwriter
Alister Grierson .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Kokoda official movie site
Kokoda film production notes
Kokoda QuickTime movie trailers
Awards and film festivals:

Australian Film Institute (AFI) 2006: Nominated: Visual Effects Award (Phil Stuart-Jones), Best Costume Design (Phill Eagles)
Film Critics Circle of Australia 2006: Nominated: Best Cinematography
if Awards 2006: Nominated: Best Cinematography (Jules O'Loughlin), Best Editing (Adrian Rostirolla), Best Production Design (Nick McCallum)

See also Changi, To end all wars
Studios and distributors:

Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC) * Palace Films * Madman Cinema

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

The strangest thing about Kokoda is that it has almost neither beginning nor end. There's a short voice-over at the start (with a helpful map) and a few words before the closing credits but nothing on-screen to introduce any of the characters, countries or situations. You are dumped into the middle of the war with little idea of who's fighting it, let alone why. Perhaps it's a cinematic device to give you the same sense of fubar that struck the "Chocko Soldiers" (soft, sweet and melts away when heat is applied) who found themselves fighting battle-hardened Japanese with almost no preparation, training or supplies. If so, it's a powerful tool because you spend half the film thinking "What the...? What the...? What the...?".

Meanwhile, the sudden cessation of battle leaves you with the sound of gunshots ringing in your ears. The abrupt release from a life-and-death struggle where your mates are dying all around you must have been almost as shocking as the combat itself. It's like tripping over the step that isn't there.

To make things worse, this is jungle warfare. You shoot anything that moves because by the time you know who it is you're dead. Every tree, every bush, every log, every dip in the landscape is a potential hideaway for one of the murderous yellow bastards.; the constant psychological pressure cooked many a goose.

However, Kokoda is no great shakes a a war film (it can't hold a candle to Saving Private Ryan) but it makes a great quasi-documentary.